


Filling up my heart with golden stories

by sas



Series: Femslash February Prompts [1]
Category: How to Get Away with Murder
Genre: Artist!Rebecca, Borderline!Rebecca, F/F, Femslash, Femslash February, Femslash February prompt, Friendship, Model!Lila, Tumblr Fic, UST, art class, has problems with trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-01
Updated: 2015-03-01
Packaged: 2018-03-15 18:37:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3457589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sas/pseuds/sas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My boo thang queerfordormer asked: “Lila being the nude model in Rebecca’s art class.” </p><p>One of my Femslash February prompts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Filling up my heart with golden stories

**Author's Note:**

> (Title is from the Adele song 'Painting Pictures'.)
> 
> This takes place pre-canon, when everything was beautiful and happy.

“So, I was thinking: we should do something outside of this.” **  
**

Rebecca laughed. “Outside of what?”

“Outside of you coming to my roof to sell me drugs.”

“Why would we do that?”

Lila playfully pushed her shoulder, before matter-of-factly shrugging, “because we’re friends.”

Rebecca had never really thought of them as friends. She had thought of their relationship as more of a business set-up, but their meetings were becoming more and more frequent, and longer each time. Usually, the pair would sit on the roof and drink wine or beer, sometimes eat whatever chocolate Lila had in her room. Mostly, Lila talked about things that were happening in her life: who she was dating, who she wanted to date, sorority sisters, parents, classes. For the most part Rebecca just listened and offered her advice where it was necessary. Recently though, Rebecca had begun to fill quiet moments with tidbits from her own life, and Lila always seemed interested, asking questions, giving advice. As time went on, Rebecca had not only become comfortable around Lila, but had started to look forward to their evenings on the roof. That didn’t mean, however, that she was comfortable with the idea of moving it away from there. She felt as though moving it away or putting other people in the mix, just letting the world know that they were friends would somehow ruin it.

“I don’t even like you,” Rebecca said, raising an eyebrow. Lila’s face was skeptical behind the wine bottle held to her mouth, and Rebecca cracked a smile. “Okay, maybe a little.”

Lila smiled and continued, “Oh, there’s a place in the Old City that are showing Avenue Q! We could go see that.”

“Avenue Q?”

“Yeah, it’s this great musical where all the actors—”

“No, I’m aware of it, I just never would’ve guessed it would be your thing.”

In response, Lila started to sing _Schadenfreude_  and Rebecca couldn’t help but laugh. They easily fell back into regular conversation.

Later, when Rebecca was finished her wine and was getting ready to leave, Lila looked up at her from where she was lying on the ground. “So?”

“So what?”

“So, do you want to go to Avenue Q with me?”

Rebecca felt panic rise in her throat. It only got worse as Lila’s face crumpled, became sad and pained.

“It’s totally cool,” she mumbled, turning her face away, “I obviously misread things between us. Don’t even worry about it. I’ll see you later.”

“It’s not that!” Rebecca’s words tumbled out of her mouth, “It’s just that I don’t know if I have the time at the minute, I’m working a bunch at the bar, and then I have my art classes, and making house calls all over campus at the weekend. When I have some time, I’ll totally let you know.”

“You take an art class?”

“Uh, yes? Why?”

“I just never would’ve guessed it would be your thing,” Lila smirked as she turned her head back around.

Rebecca shruged, “I was thinking about maybe going back to school, but I would need a portfolio, so I’m working on that.”

“That’s really cool. Doing it at UArts?”

“Nah, at Fleisher Memorial.”

No response came from Lila; instead, she drained the last of her own wine and returned her gaze to the sky. Rebecca pulled her coat around her and said goodbye, and when she only received a “hmm” in response, she desperately tried to shove down the hurt that clawed its way out of the pit of her stomach, through her throat.

As she walked home, leather jacket gathered around herself against the stiff breeze, she thought some more of the fact that her and Lila were friends. For Rebecca, having friends was not easy. She found it hard to trust people, and often became too intense when people did come closer. She couldn’t deny, however, that Lila  _had_ come to mean something to her. She felt that it was okay to let her know things about her. There was something homely about their time together. As long as Rebecca could keep from becoming too intense about their friendship, too invested too quickly, what was the harm in spending more time with her?

She spent the rest of the evening thinking about it.

* * *

Rebecca liked her art class. She wasn’t even sure if she would go on to college, scholarship notwithstanding. It was just something she liked to pour herself into, something that relaxed her and gave her a sort-of sense of self pride. She loved the dark smudge of charcoal on the edges of her hands and the smell of oil paints and they whole flurry of creation that surrounded her—she felt at peace there.

As she set up her station, the instructor announced, “Okay guys, I know you must be sick to death of still life, especially considering half the fruit went mouldy a week ago.” Most of the class laughed, but Rebecca remained focussed on organising her materials. “So, tonight we’ll be moving on to Life Drawing, which is why this beautiful young lady is standing beside me. Lila will be our nude model for the next few lessons.”

Rebecca’s body responded first, her lungs stopped flexing and all the air inside her stopped moving. As her mind caught up, a feeling like roaring panic slammed through her. She peeked around the easel, hoping, praying it wasn’t  _her_  Lila.

Rebecca had never been religious, and supposed praying to a god you had so often ridiculed led to punishment. Seeing Lila Stangard perched on a wooden stool in the middle of the art room, wearing a satin robe and with her hair free around her shoulders, certainly was punishment.

When Lila saw Rebecca, a genuine smile slipped across her face. She turned around in the stool so she was facing directly toward the brunette.

The instructor nodded to her with a mumbled, “whenever you’re ready, Lila” and Lila smirked directly at Rebecca and dropped the satin robe from her shoulders.

Rebecca, against every one of her better judgements, gasped. Anita, to Rebecca’s right, laughed quietly, whispering. “Keep it in your pants, tia.”

She tried shaking her head. When the fog had not cleared, she shook it a second time, harder. She took three deep breaths in. She focused on remembering the words to “Preludes”. When she was calm again, she picked up her pencil and looked out at Lila.

She was reclined slightly on the stool, resting on one hand; the other hand was playing with a strand of hair from the mass of strawberry blonde tresses which fell down her back, across her shoulders, on to her chest. She kept the line of her chest, torso, hips straight, a line which continued unbroken down her extended leg, to her perfectly pointed toe. Her other leg was bent at the knee, keeping her steady as it gripped on to the footrest.

Rebecca made mental notes as fast as she could, and quickly returned to begin her sketch. Every time she looked, though, she felt her concentration slip a little further from her grasp. Lila, for her part, had failed to realise that her staying still was not only appreciated, but also quite necessary. The second time Rebecca looked, she was sitting upright, her idle hands resting high in her lap.

The fourth time, she had returned to her semi-reclined position, but with her head thrown back, mouth slightly open, hair falling wildly behind her, and breasts being pushed forward with every breath.

The seventh time, she was sitting up again, directly facing Rebecca, hair falling over her shoulders and her two hands braced on her inner thighs.

Every time Rebecca returned her eyes to her easel, she found herself needing to take a few seconds to just _breathe_. As she filled the blank space in front of her, trying her hardest to focus on the task at hand, images flashed through her head.

The milky skin that pulled across the toned muscle of her stomach.

The graceful, easy way Lila draped herself so comfortably. (Rebecca’s logical brain, though obviously banished to the Bad Lands, provided that this was probably the years of dance training).

The way Lila’s small hand gathered huge sections of her hair, and scrunched it, gripping it tightly.

Lila’s tongue darting out to lick across her parted lips.

It didn’t matter how much Rebecca controlled her breathing, nothing could stop the pooling heat sitting at the bottom of her stomach.

When the class was finally finished, and Rebecca was sure Lila had returned the satin robe to its rightful place, she practically upturned her easel making her way to the centre of the room, where the redhead stood.

“Lila, what the hell are you doing here?”

“I thought this would be a cool way for us to spend more time together.” She shrugged. She looked so proud of her idea, like an expectant puppy, that Rebecca’s original indignance died almost completely.

“And you couldn’t have just joined the class?”

“Full. Besides, I thought this would be more fun.”

“Standing in a room full of strangers is your idea of fun?”

Lila just shrugged.

Rebecca didn’t know how she felt, and was even a little surprised at herself when a request tumbled from her mouth: “Do you want to grab a drink? You know, once you’re dressed and all.”

“I’d love to. Meet me out front in ten?”

Rebecca nodded, grabbed her things, and left the building. She lit a cigarette and tried to quell this feeling of want inside her. Lila was her friend, and that was an idea she was just barely comfortable with.  _These feelings would only mean trouble. So they had to go, as simple as that._  Rebecca rolled her eyes internally. When had she ever listened to her own good judgement? As of tonight, Rebecca was fucked.

“So, there’s a place on East Passyunk that does free pizza during Happy Hours, which is right now. What do you say?” Lila sounded so excited it broke Rebecca from her train of thought, and she couldn’t help but smile.

“Sounds great.”

After a few slices of pizza, and more than a few drinks, Rebecca leaned into Lila to ask her something that had been on her mind.

“Seriously though, that didn’t bother one? Just, getting up in front of all of those people naked?”

“Well, no, not really.” She shrugged and took a sip out of her daiquiri.

“Wow.” Rebecca’s look was soft as she surveyed her friend’s face, the way her lips pulled in the black straw.

“I had a distraction technique, anyway.”

“The moving around? You’re not really supposed to do that.”

“No, dummy. I just pretended that it was just me and you there.” Lila ignored Rebecca’s choking noise and continued, “You were the only one making eye contact with me.”

Lila was smirking, and Rebecca was trying to hide her face behind her black hair.

If Lila hadn’t have been listening for a response, she would have missed it. She did, however, just make out Rebecca squeaking, “You thought about me watching you naked?”

“Well, no.”

“Then wha—”

“Ideally you’d be naked too.”


End file.
